How (and Why) to do Qualitative Audience Research
Qualitative audience research is a goldmine of customer data that can add many benefits to your marketing. It goes beyond the numbers and looks for feelings and opinions that aren’t always easy to uncover… and they all contribute to growth! It can close the time that...
Before you find your customers do these four things
The worst thing you could do is to have your marketing work and you’re not prepared for the resulting traffic. It’s one of the first questions I ask in a consulting call – how much additional work can you handle? Sounds like a good problem to have, right? But it’s...
Focusing on the Right Things (in Your Marketing)
Focusing on the things that make your business money will help you do more … of what makes you money. Make sense? Of course! However, sometimes it’s more difficult to put into practice than it sounds. There are a few places to look when assessing your marketing....
Marketing Dashboard: A Necessary Tool for Growth
A marketing dashboard let’s you have all your numbers at your fingertips and not only saves time, it also allows you to see correlations and trends more easily. Much like in a car, all the guages on your dashboard are there so you can keep track of what’s...
Building Your Marketing Workflow
At the end of 2019 I joined a Mastermind. It opened my eyes to many things around running and growing a successful business. However, the lesson that has had the biggest impact but also took the longest to learn is the building of systems. As a solopreneur growing a...
Building Trust vs. Authority in Marketing
Does your marketing inspire trust? Does your marketing demand authority? The difference between trust and authority when it comes to marketing your small business is oceans apart. And although both are seen as desirable for a business to have, it’s only one of these...
Small Business Tools: Software that helps
There are many challenges to running a small business and choosing small business tools shouldn’t be one of them. It took me months to find a combination of software that work for us at WindWater Marketing. I wanted to share some of the programs I came across in...
Mapping Your Small Business Marketing
Running and building a small business is a tough road. Each day is filled with sometimes simple but sometimes complex choices that drive your business forward (or stalls it). This is where a roadmap can help. When I say roadmap I don’t mean those thick multi-year...
The Impact of Outsourcing your Marketing
Outsourcing your marketing has many benefits to a small business looking for support. Namely, it provides specific and strategic help to allow for growth.
Marketing Automation for Small Business
Small business automation is vital for any professional service business. Learn the ins and outs with a few cautions.
Identifying Opportunities
It can be difficult to know what to choose when faced with what looks to be a golden opportunity but you’re unsure how it fits into the overall plan you have for your business. What would appear at first blush to be tempting may actually close doors down the way...
Choosing a Website Platform
One of the most common questions I get asked is what are the differences between the different website platforms. This is a big question, and maybe not the right one to ask if you’re looking to build your website (or do a refresh). I’ve always advised my clients to...
Knowing where you stand as a small business
Knowing where you stand in the market and among your competitors is vitally important for a business of any size but can offer key insights for a small business. Whether you are starting with an idea or just getting around to this piece of the puzzle, it is an...
When Words Aren’t Your Strong Suit
Not everyone can turn a phrase. And not all small business owners know how to craft a message that resonates with their target client or target audience. If you combine these two inabilities you come up with a surprising number of entrepreneurs! But these...
How to Choose a Niche Market for Your Small Business
Choosing a niche in your small business can feel like you’re leaving money on the table when in reality you’re putting more ON the table. Here are a few things to help you find that small business niche.
Build a Better Business
Building a “better” business means different things to different people, but the path to get there is remarkably the same!
Where to Market your Small Business
Like many small businesses, you probably rely on referrals. Congratulations on being so great at what you do! Referrals are an excellent source of new business and very little effort goes into landing it as they usually come from a trusted source. However, referrals...
Delivering an ROI in Social Media
Delivering a return on investment with social media is a strategic choice. It’s a choice that requires planning on your part to see it work. Are you ready? First you need to know why you’re on social media in the first place. A. Goals Many organizations have a...
Three things to do for marketing success
Marketing success isn’t easy for all service businesses.Convincing prospects of buying the intangible can be a true challenge if you’re new to marketing. Afterall, you’re the expert in your service and not necessarily in promoting your service. Catch...
Is Your Marketing Creeping Out Your Prospects? Creepy Marketing 101
How to creep out prospects: Schedule a first time meeting at your prospect’s favourite cafe Send push-notification every time they walk by the store Send a prospect an email, even though they never opted-in for your newsletter or to be your subscriber...
Building an Effective Marketing Strategy – from scratch
It can be tough to sit down and craft your own marketing strategy as an entrepreneur or small business owner. After all, you already have a few balls in the air: sales, client work, overhead, finances, etc. The process of defining a marketing strategy is an excellent...
Simple Ways to Build Awareness for Your Business
Building awareness is the first step in marketing your business. Making sure your prospects know you exist and what you offer is the first part of selling. It’s important to be the business that stands out from the pool of competitors and to spark interest in...
Creating a Custom Google Analytics Dashboard
If your business is one of the millions that use Google Analytics (GA) to track and measure your website traffic, it makes sense to customize it to the specific pieces you’re reporting on. Creating a custom dashboard built around your KPIs just makes sense. Everyone...
Why Your Website is Important
It’s a cornerstone of any business – the website. It can attract prospects, generate leads, build credibility, and even make sales on your behalf! Yet there are still those businesses out there that consider their website a waste of money and not worthy of...
3 Blogs to Follow in 2017
Blogs are a great way to glean information and insight into topics – for free. So when you find a source that gives helpful advice and critical thought mixed with industry insight you want to bookmark that page and schedule some time to check it out each week. I try...
How Much Should you Budget for Marketing?
This is a common and complicated question that I get asked a lot. And to be honest it’s different for each client. However, the guidelines are always the same. Base your budget on a percentage of your revenue It’s common to use anywhere from 3-10% on marketing...
For the Love of Marketing
It makes my pulse race and I get a surge of adrenaline when I’m doing it well. It has held my passion for over 15 years with no signs of losing interest. And I keep learning new things so I’m never bored! I’m passionate about what I do and I hope it’s a long and happy...
3 Ways to Keep Motivation High All Day
Keeping a good level of motivation throughout your day and week can make a big difference in your productivity. But how do you maintain that high level of motivation? I’ve rounded up three tips that you can apply straight away to help you keep that motivation high all...
Finger Puzzle Failures in Marketing
It’s like a finger puzzle – as you start to panic, the act of pulling and jerking only tightens the grip of the thing you’re trying to get out of. I’m talking about a failed marketing campaign. The panic you can feel as the end comes near (and you’re not where you...
5 New Year’s Resolutions for Small Business Growth
Now is the time to start setting your goals and resolutions for next year. I don’t know about you, but I usually fall flat on my resolutions by about March. However, when my resolutions are connected to goals I usually do much better at them. Here are a few you may...
5 Habits of Successful Small Business
Barring those start-ups that experience explosive growth in the first six months, most successful businesses take time to grow. They are built around the founders and ground floor staff that put the time and passion in to make it successful. Across industry though...
Defining your Value Proposition
Crafting a value proposition statement (VPS) is a key part of defining your small business. In a nutshell, it’s a clear statement of what you do, how it benefits, for whom you do it, and what makes you unique. Without it your business offering may not be clear to your...
Proving Your Excellence
You work hard. You deliver excellence. Your clients are happy. Your business grows. Providing proof at your skill levels and expertise can be difficult, but, prospects often require assurance to secure their business. Proving your excellence can be done in a variety...
Balanced Marketing: the big and small picture
Most people that reach out to WindWater Marketing for help don’t know what they want. They only know what they want to achieve – that’s fair. However, the biggest response I get in our initial conversation is their opinion on what they DON’T want to do (number one on...
Small Wins Achieve Big Goals
I think as adults we all understand the logic of chipping away at our goals to achieve them over time – it is said to make large goals more approachable or achievable. But I think we skim past the part where consistency is pointed out as the key. We all want difficult...
To Blog or Not to Blog: There is no Question
For those new businesses out there wondering if the age of blogging is over….if they should really put in the effort to post blogs on their website…. I’m here to tell you that you should absolutely be blogging. No question. However, the answer isn’t always as simple...
Mapping Your Sales Funnel
Though the use of the term “funnel” is a bit outdated when it comes to discussing leads and sales, I think it still has use for small businesses and entrepreneurs. By focusing on a “funnel” you are better able to set up a basic lead generating process that can be...
The Importance of PR for Small Business
PR or Public Relations is often the last thing that a small business thinks of to grow their business. However, the addition of PR into a marketing plan can add a variety of benefits: Inbound link to your website: SEO is tricky business and an inbound link from a...